With the NFL season just over two months away, assuming an on-time start to the season, The Wolfpacker is previewing the 2020 season for every former NC State player in the NFL.

The program currently has 26 former players on current NFL rosters, around half of which are projected starters for the upcoming season.

With the projected starter previews on offense, defense and special teams already done, we move to the projected back-ups at the quarterback position as we make our way through the Pack Pros series.

Brissett enters his fifth NFL season in 2020 after being a third-round selection by the New England Patriots in the 2016 NFL Draft. After one season with the Patriots as a back-up, he was traded to Indianapolis and eventually became the starter for the Colts in 2017 after the franchise's former starter, Andrew Luck, missed the season due to surgery.

Luck returned in 2018, which sent Brissett back to the bench, but the former Wolfpack quarterback gained another opportunity to start for the Colts last season after Luck surprisingly retired in the preseason.

Brissett played around the middle of the pack in 2019 among the league's starters, finishing tied for 23rd overall in QBR (88.0) with former Patriots and current Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. He finished the season with 2,942 passing yards with a completion percentage of 60.9 percent while throwing for 18 touchdowns and six interceptions. Although he threw for slightly fewer yards than his 3,098-yard season as a starter in 2017, he improved his completion percentage by two percent in 2019 while throwing for five more touchdowns and one less interception.

While Brissett displayed enough ability as an efficient game manager in his two seasons as a starter to maintain a roster spot in the league for years to come, he enters 2020 once again as a projected back-up.

During the offseason, the Colts signed another former NC State quarterback, Philip Rivers, to a one-year, $25 million contract. While this could very well be Rivers' last season in the NFL, the veteran gunslinger is the anticipated starter for Indianapolis in 2020 after missing the playoffs last year with a 7-9 record.

According to one NFL analyst, Brissett is the best back-up quarterback in the NFL and is being compensated like it too after signing a two-year, $30 million contract with the Colts last September.

After breaking passing records at NC State, the Cincinnati Bengals traded up six spots to select Finley in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

The plan for the Bengals was to develop the young talent on a rebuilding team behind an aging veteran quarterback in Andy Dalton.

After losing the first eight games of the season, Cincinnati decided to name Finley as its starting quarterback in its Week Nine bye. Despite posting decent numbers in his three eventual starts, the Bengals pulled Finley and put Dalton back in after the offense still lacked luster averaging 11 points per game with Finley under center.

In his three starts, Finley threw for 474 yards on 41-of-87 attempts for two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also added 77 yards through 10 rushes on the ground.

The Bengals went on to finish the season 2-4 in its last six games with Dalton back as the starter. With the NFL's worst record, Cincinnati received the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 Draft which it used to select 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and national champion quarterback Joe Burrow of LSU.

Burrow is now the team's projected starter and is assumed to be the intended franchise quarterback for the Bengals moving forward. Finley could secure a role as the team's backup quarterback moving forward but is unlikely to compete for the starting job anytime soon.

Glennon enters his eighth NFL season in 2020 as an experienced back-up with previous starts on his resume. The 6-foot-7, 225-pound former NC State quarterback has started in 22 games over his career, although none since 2017.

Since being drafted in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Glennon has made stops in Chicago, back to Tampa Bay, Arizona, and Oakland before agreeing to terms with Jacksonville this offseason.

Glennon made his biggest payday in 2017 when he signed a three-year, $45 million contract with the Chicago Bears before the Bears ultimately moved up in the draft during the same offseason to select former UNC quarterback Mitchell Trrubisky, who ultimately won the job.

Last season, Glennon only threw for 10 attempts with the Raiders last season but completed six of them for 56 yards including one for a touchdown.

Now with Jacksonville, the veteran will become the back-up to second-year Jaguars starter Gardner Minshew who was earned the starting job last season after the original starter, Nick Foles, was hurt in the season opener.

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